The Hours
2002 · Directed by Stephen Daldry
Original language: English
- drama
The story
The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.
What it’s like
Muted, sorrowful colour dominates: pale English interiors washed in grey-blue light, a 1920s kitchen of cream and dusty ochre, and a sunlit 2001 Manhattan rendered in tired golds and greens. Composer Philip Glass supplies a rippling, repetitive piano score that keeps circling like a held breath, and the sound design leans on wind, running water and the pull of a closing door. Camera work is patient and often close, with lingering shots of hands, windows and the middle distance, and the three timelines are braided together with a sense of quiet inevitability. The vibe is melancholic, reflective and elegiac, best suited to a rainy afternoon or a late evening alone when you want something absorbing and emotionally weighty. Pacing is slow and deliberate, and the arcs follow three women measuring their lives against longing, domestic routine and the wish to be seen. Intensity is moderate: depression and suicidal thoughts are central, with one suicide shown in a restrained, non-graphic way, and there is some drowning imagery, brief sexual content and a frank, sombre treatment of grief and illness. Best for adults who want literary, heavy drama with tenderness and no spectacle.
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